=============================================================================== Half-Life: Counter-Strike Guide to Knifing Chase "AggroSk8er" Ansok Version 1.0 Last Update: 4/10/2003 =============================================================================== O. Table of Contents I. Intro II. Legal Stuff III. About Knifing IV. Knife Styles a. Ninja b. Kamikaze c. Backstabber d. Finisher e. Camper V. Knife Tips/Rules VI. Other Knife Uses a. Knife Rushing b. Fast Switch c. Knife Fighting VII. Contact Info and Closing =============================================================================== I. Intro As you probably know if you're reading this, Counter-Strike is the single most played online game ever. It's played by somewhere around a million people world-wide as of today. More than 100,000 servers go up daily, and CS has been around since 1999. I've just started playing this year, but I've learned quickly and plan to join cal-o this year and so on. Through that, I've learned one of the many small nuances that makes CS so great--the Knife. =============================================================================== II. Legal Stuff This guide is copyrighted by Chase Ansok and may not be used without expressed written consent by Mr. Ansok or the legal guardian thereof. This guide is to be used by www.GameFAQs.com and affiliated websites only. In layman's terms, rip me off and I'll rip you a new one. =============================================================================== III. About Knifing Knifing is a small part of Counter-Strike, but it has a few good points to it. The knife is only used at very close ranges, as it is the only melee weapon in Counter-Strike. It takes up weapon slot three in your HUD. The first point is that the knife is very powerful. The primary function of the knife is a very accurate, but slightly weaker slash, and the secondary function is a very powerful but inaccurate stab. Here's a damage chart: Slash -- 20 Arm/Leg; 35 Chest; 75 Head Stab -- 55 Arm/Leg; 65 Chest; 221 Head (this is incredibly hard. I've done it twice in all my time of playing. The second point is that the knife is very light, meaning you can run very quickly with it and get to key points in a map quickly. I have a small section on this later. The third point of knifing is that it's a glory hog. You've had the beautiful headshots, the double AWP kill, the triple nade, but NOTHING tops the rush of a knife kill, and nothing makes someone feel stupider. That's the entire point of the guide--to master the knife and take some of that well-needed glory... There are some other points to the knife, but I don't really care. If you have one, e-mail me (see the contact info section). =============================================================================== IV. Knifing Styles There are different styles to getting knife kills. Depends if you want quick and stealth, or suicidally brillaint. Take your choice or take a blend if you like, but no matter what, make sure you don't miss with that shot. a. Ninja Style This is a popular style for people who are just screwing around. The key to this is to make sure you are not seen when you go for the knife. You sneak around the back, come in, and quickly stab them. If your target has more than 55 health, you should strafe to a side after you stab them, as to make sure they don't turn around and get a luck kill. In Ninja Style, you should walk, crouch, and camp until your target can't see you, and then stalk him to death. b. Kamikaze Style With this style for the insane, you never take out anything but the knife. You want to go balls out suicidal and just get your knife on anyone you can. I suggest going with the slash towards the head for this, because they will see you, so a fast kill isn't necessary at all. Just go for that head and make decapitate the guy. c. Backstabber This is usually a knifer who uses a gun until the opportunity arises. The Backstabber is very similar to the Ninja, except the knife isn't a primary weapon. Most casual knifers take this so they can get the gloat kill, but still be able to back out and shoot the guy if the need be. d. Finisher The best way to get a gloat kill is this. A guy is weakened by either your bullets or a teammates, so to make him feel stupid you rush and knife him. This is pretty fool-proof, as if you can get a guy even down to 55, he's down in one slash. e. Camper Style Exactly as the name suggests. Stay in one spot, or a dark spot at least, and await an enemy to come by alone. Follow him until you can get a free knife, and he'll wonder what the hell just happened. This is not a good way to try, as all he has to do is turn around and you're screwed. Use this only on newbs. Got a good knifing style? Drop me a line. =============================================================================== V. Knife Tips/Rules As the title presumes, there are some basic tips and rules to knifing... 1. NEVER KNIFE IN A CAL/CLAN MATCH. The only time you should ever do so is if you have run out of primary and secondary bullets and have to charge in balls out to win, which may happen once if you play for about a year. Knifing is good and fun in pubs, but don't screw your team over in a CAL match. 2. The best way to knife a target that doesn't know you're coming is a quick slash to the head amd them a stab. This should kill. 3. The best way to knife a weak target is one stab. 4. The best way to kill a target that can shoot back is to slash until you get a headshot, then stab to finish. Remember that going after a stronger target will probably get you killed. 5. A great tactic for knifing is to throw a flashbang/smoke grenade, then run in and scare the daylights out of them. 6. If you want to make someone look really foolish, knife them as they reload. 7. Knife run only to the point where you know an enemy cannot get there, be absolutely sure. The last thing you want is a death by an enemy you can't fight back to. 8. Never try to knife when outnumbered. If one target doesn't see you, odds are the second will, or at least turn around once his teammate dies. 9. If someone says knife fight, fight them, or explain that your health is too low. Don't be an asshat and shoot them for a free kill. 10. MOST IMPORTANT RULE. Use common sense when knifing. Don't go suicidal when a round is on the line, don't knife multiple targets, and most of all, don't be a jackass and laugh whenever you get a knife kill. =============================================================================== VI. Other Knife Uses Knifing isn't just for fighting, it has other uses as well. a. Knife Rushing As you already know, the knife is a very light weapon, meaning you run the fastest with it equipped. Thusly, pull out your knife to get a head- start over most people, and get to choke points that half-second faster. Remember to put the knife away as soon as you get to a point where an enemy could get there. b. Fast Switch As pointed out above, the knife is light, and you move fast with it. Fast switching is a good tactic because of this. Bind a button to switch to your last used weapon (your knife), and then use your gun (probably the AWP in this case). Fire a shot, quick switch, pull back, quick switch, run in, fire a shot, repeat. It's a very important thing to master in the world of sniping. c. Knife Fighting There comes a time in a pub where it's 1 v 1 and your opponent calls knife fight. There is one very simple rule to knife fighting: DON'T JUMP! When you jump, you slow down almost to a stop, and makes you a free target for almost a second. For an easy victory, run at the guy and slash at his head. You will hit it, and he'll die as he tries to get a stab in. In most knife fights, however, you'll want to stick to a "run in, stab, run out" tactic, trying not to get hit, or at least get one off before he gets one. There are other uses, I'm just too stupid to remember. =============================================================================== VII. Contact Info and Closing Questions? Comments? Additions? E-mail me at cowoflight@sbcglobal.net with [CS Knifing] in the title. All other e-mails will be discarded as spam. I play on Counter-Strike as HsA | Aggro , usually playing on the Headshot Assassins server (63.99.234.80:27010) or Degss. Look for me. I will also note that I'll update the guide for maybe a month, and then I'm done. Anyway, there you have it. You should be a better knifer now or then you've just wasted your time, and that would suck. I'm planning on writing another guide for CS that'll contain a lot of info about hacking and anti-hacking. No, I'm not going to tell you how to design hacks; I'll tell you how to spot a hacker instead of n00bishly accusing them and looking like a jackass. Look for that sometime next month... Das end. Copyright Chase Ansok 2003.